Fairy Tales

Resumen del libro

Hans Christian Andersen was the profoundly imaginative writer and storyteller who revolutionized literature for children. He gave us the now standard versions of some traditional fairy tales with an anarchic twist but many of his most famous tales sprang directly from his imagination.

The thirty stories here range from exuberant early works such as "The Tinderbox" and "The Emperor's New Clothes" through poignant masterpieces such as "The Little Mermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling," to more subversive later tales such as "The Ice maiden" and "The Wood Nymph."

A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition with French flaps, rough front, and luxurious packaging
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Introduction
Further Reading
Translator's Note
A Note on the Illustrations

Fairy Tales
The Tinderbox
Little Claus and Big Claus
The Princess on the Pea
Thumbelina
The Traveling Companion
The Little Mermaid
The Emperor's New Clothes
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
The Wild Swans
The Flying Trunk
The Nightingale
The Sweethearts
The Ugly Duckling
The Fir Tree
The Snow Queen
The Red Shoes
The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep
The Shadow
The Old House
The Little Match Girl
The Story of a Mother
The Collar
The Bell
The Marsh King's Daughter
The Wind Tells of Valdemar Daae and His Daughters
The Snowman
The Ice Maiden
The Wood Nymph
The Most Incredible Thing
Auntie Toothache
Notes

Biografía del autor

Nació en Dinamarca en 1805. De origen humilde, a los catorce años huyó a Copenhague, donde Jonas Collin, director del Teatro Real, financió sus estudios y le abrió las puertas a la dramaturgia sin mucho éxito. En 1834 ganó popularidad con sus primeros textos: cuentos nacidos de la tradición oral que recitó en cortes reales y mansiones aristocráticas. Hizo de sus viajes una huida de la soledad, experiencias que narró en El bazar de un poeta (1842) o Viaje por España (1863). Escribió hasta 1872, tres años antes de morir tras una amarga enfermedad.